The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-01-26
A DETECTIVES STORY.

/ was IN the active employ O1 flnkel- :
ton for many years, and took my full
share OF risks incident to detective work,
but the very first case assigned me had
more pe:il in it than any four others
combined. | had done some ''spotting'
and "shadowing," and had helped on
two or three cases, when l was sent to
Milwaukee to loJk after. an embezzler.
The case was stated in \ nutshell. A
Mr.. Pierce, a widow Of wealth, and q
woman who trusted her servants alto
gether too much, received one day from
the East by express package of money
amounting to $4,000. She had b en-
in the habit of sending her butler to the
bank to make deposits for her, and now
and then to draw money on fer written
c!der. He had been with her for several
We r. rs rt of MN O. all work IN the
house, and she had found him strictly
honest. She gave him the money to de-
u .>it without fear of lis being tempted.
H. WAS moi sen after he left the house.
He dii not 10 the bank, and for three
or fo!r days Mrs. Pierce and Others
iaboYrd under the belief that he had
been r., bid and murdered. The hunt for
hS dead body was going on when |
reach .d Milwaukee.
The name of the butler was John
LaGc and he was described to me as
SANDY -hair i, red faced man, weighing
one hundred and sixty pounds. and
wearing Il sandy m'ustache. His habits
were declared to b, above reproach.
and Mrs. Pierce Indignantly resented my
suggestion that he might have run
away. So did the local dete:ti' e who
had the case in hand. l held from the
first to the theory that he had run away.
He had been told to hurry back. lie
cou d reach the bank in walk of ffteeu
minutes, having only two or three turns
to make. 1t was at , o'clcck in the af-
tcrncon, and he could be in no personal
dang,r No one could be found who
had seen him between the house and the
bank, although he was we'll known. But
the best clue was found in Lanes room.
There was handful of sandy hair in Il
paper under the lavatory There was an
other paper spotted with lather, in which
were enough bristles to make a nous
ta2he Behind an old trunk was bot
tie which had containe hair dye.
Mrs. Pierce received the money about
10 o'clock in the forenoon, and she re-
marked to ane that she would have
him deposit it after dinner. lie waited
on the table at noon, and there was no
change in his appearance, but between
that time and two he shaved off his
moustache, cut OF lot of his hair, ap.
piled the dye, and Mrs. Pierce remem-
bered that he was muffled up as he went
out, leaving by the side door
Now came the hardest part of the
work When you know which way
criminal is eading it is quite easy to
keep his trail, but when you can't say
whether he is in New York or Omaha,
or that he may not be hiding within two
blocks of you, it is quite d dfferent mat
ter. From the servants in the house |
learned that Lane had always declared
he hated the very sight of cities and
towns, and he had no care for fine
cloth and society. He also had great
horror of the water. This seemed to
argue that he would not head for Europe,
as 1 at first feared. 1t was we'll known
that he had holy horror of the West,
having read of savage Indians, prairie
fires. grizzly bears, iattlesnakes. &C.
That seemed to argue that he would not
90 West Would lie 60 North or South?
/ was helped out of my dilemma in
curious way. I had been at every steam
boat Office and railroad depot, meeting
with no success, and was standing in
front of the Second National Bank when
a farmer looking man accosted me with:
What do you say aboat this bill? l
say it's good and the old woman says it's
bad"
1t was a five he had and the "c.d
woman" sat in wagon on the opposite
side of the street.
why does she suspect it to be badm
l asked, as surveyed the bill.
Well, it was give to me four or five
days ago by chap who rode out home
with US, had supper, and then cut across
to the railroad station. shouldn't have
charged him over sevcntv-tive cents at
the most, and his liberalty seems queer"
was dead certain from his first words
that I had got track of my man. We
went into the bank to satisfy him that
the bill was all right, and then crossed
to the wagon. | want to tell you that
country reople are head and shoulders
above the average city residents in the
matter of observation aad in remember
ing what they see.
We'll, one reason why l suspected
this man said the wife, WAS because
his hair was dreadfully hageled ard then
dyed. Such botch work you never saw.
His hair was all in streaks OF black and
red, and he'd got the dye on his ears and
ne x"
The fellow had tried to play smart in
leaving the city by one of the highways,
but accident had revealed his trail. He
had taken the train at a station about fif-
teen miles away, and he had four days
the start of me. The first move was to
run out to the country station at which
he had taken the train. there found
that he had made many inquiries about
the northern and western part of the
Stat :, and had finally purcha ,ed ticket
for Fond du Lac. The description Of
him was good, and was about to buy
ticket for the same place and take train
due in half an hour, when In came boy
who had been there on the evening when
j ane bought his ticket. lie was a lad
who helped around the station, and it
was plain that he had good deal OF na
tive wit.
"Ies, that chap bought ticket for
Fond du Lac, but don't think he went
there" replied the lad when | began to
question him.
tWhat makes YOU think he d ID not"